Kit waves that off. “We’d just claim it was AI. No one would believe it was real these days.”
Ethan scowls. “Someone would find a way to prove it’s genuine, or we’d inevitably have a few humans trying to hunt and capture shifters to confirm if they exist. We can’t take the risk.”
Raj grimaces. ‘The fact the drone was blocked from flying over the estate is likely to confirm to him that he should keep investigating, rather than be a deterrent.’
“Can a drone see through the ward?” Cal asks.
Ayo shakes his head immediately. “No, Kit and I checked all types of tech when I set it up.”
Jet nudges Skye. “I wonder if he’s worked out that you used to perch in the tree in his back garden. Maybe he’s here for payback.”
“Let’s fucking hope not,” Ethan says.
“Want me to put a tracker on his car?” Kit asks.
Raj raises his eyebrows. ‘You want to put magically modified tech on the car of a human? One who might find it, and would then have further evidence of our world’s existence?’
Kit rolls their eyes. “If the fae at Far Out Freight haven’t sensed our trackers, a human definitely won’t.”
“Forget the tracker.” Ethan clenches his fists. “For now?—”
I stop following the conversation when my phone vibrates in my pocket. When I take it out to check the notification, Raj reaches for his phone as well. It’s an email from Far Out Freight with the subject line:For The Attention Of All Employees.
After much consideration, the decision has been taken to close all UK distribution centres. Staff on the ex-offender work programme will be reassigned to another Realm Enterprises subsidiary. All other staff should consider this their one week’s notice of redundancy.
Raj pockets his phone and turns to the others, his shoulders tense. ‘We have a new problem.’
Chapter Fifteen
RAJ
“I still don’t understand why we can’t just infiltrate the warehouse at night,” Jet says, his knee bouncing.
Empty takeaway containers litter the surface of the manor dining table, the lingering scent of Chinese food permeating the room. My half-drunk mug of coffee has long since gone cold, and Bryn’s steady presence opposite me at the table settles my tiger in a way that I sorely need right now.
I sigh. ‘Day or night, we won’t get a search warrant because the undercover operation hasn’t turned up any evidence.’
If it had, we’d be having a different conversation right now.
“So we sneak in like we did when we came here to get Ayo’s grimoires,” Jet says.
Ethan’s scowl deepens. “I wish it were that fucking easy. The grimoires were never going to be used as evidence for arrest, just proof of a theory being viable.”
“Not to mention, the shield charm Bryn and I created is designed to prevent the wearer from being harmed,” Ayo says. “Itwon’t hide anyone from the security spells, and the only camouflage spell I know is finicky. I’d need time to figure out a better option.”
“Isn’t it worth the risk if there’s a chance we could find something to lead us to those missing shifters, though?” Skye asks.
My chest tightens. ‘You mean like the source for the weapons in the fae realm? You think that could be where our shifters are?’
“Or at least where they were moved through, if they were indeed kept alive,” Cal says.
We have no way to reach the fae realm, and Doc P wasn’t able to tell me anything about the pocket realm due to a confidentiality clause in the agreement he made, but if we had proof of arms trafficking we could get specialists from the BSG involved. There must be at least one fae working for the government who could help us.
Bryn frowns. ‘Is that where the weapons are coming from? I assumed they were making them on Earth.’
I stare at him, my brain stuttering. ‘We’ve been working on the assumption that they’ve been bringing weapons here from their own realm, potentially supplemented by small earth-based suppliers like Nyoka.’
If that’s not what they’re doing then we’ve been looking at this case all wrong. We’ve discussed the source of the weapons as a team of course, but I should have thought of this possibility. It’s my investigation at the end of the day. It’s on me to cover every possible angle.
